Having 10,000+ Connection on Linked In is not an Achievement - It's a Responsibility

I remember the day I started my @DrPippaM (PippaM led to very specific Pippa Middleton photos) Twitter account in February 2011. I had decided to join social media in January but just could not find the heart to do it. I was terrified of being obliged to put up "content", whatever that meant. I had been told that I'd be besieged by trolls and all my followers would be bots. It was like entering Middle Earth with that sign "Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here". That was how Dante thought Hell would be signposted. Personally, I am not so sure Dante was right to have any faith in the Devil being kind enough to post a sign. I am sure he was right about Virgil, though. He's the spirit who gently and persistently guide you through the nine Circles of Hell.

I am not sure Dante was very good at math either. Most us seem to face many more than nine circles. He failed to mention recidivism. And that is my point. Social Media is a learning curve. It's like Parzival's Tale (which you'll know even more about when you go to see Spielberg's upcoming film Ready Player One, or which you'll know from Star Wars and Star Trek alike). I am no hero, but I'm on a journey that connected me to 10,000 people and that is a gift. I've learned so much from all of your articles and posts. THANK YOU!

Joining social media is a great freedom. I can start a sentence with "and" as I just did, and use the word "recidivism" and refer to Dante when explaining why I decided to make acquaintance with the trolls, bots, dark opinions and the hellish barrage that social media presents us all. LinkedIn is especially useful because I can publish without being edited. No newspaper has the column space or even the audience for really challenging ideas. But, how else can we address the challenges of our time if not by casting new, challenging, potentially half-baked ideas around?

Social Media is not just a direct pathway to the audience. It's also one of life's invitations. I'm glad decided to accept. Now I don't want to tempt fate but I have had almost no trolls. Those ghosts never really materialized. But, when they appeared, I talked to them in the spirit of "face your demon". A few needed blocking (on Twitter) but not more than a few. A few became people I continued to have a great conversation with, even if we profoundly disagreed. The platforms we have can be used to foster civil dialogue and to find people who we'd never have crossed paths with any other way.

So, I just wanted to say hello to the 10k+ of you that I've connected with. Thank you! Please feel free to reach out. I'll keep writing about the things that I think deserve more attention.